MaRS launches LegalX to build legal entrepreneurship and advance the future of law

TORONTO, June 22, 2015 – MaRS Discovery District announced today its latest industry cluster, LegalX. Dedicated to moving the legal sector forward through enterprises — whether startup or established corporates and law firms — LegalX at MaRS will connect the technologists, designers, coders, engineers and lawyers who are driving change.

LegalX officially launches tonight and includes legal entrepreneurs, academics, law practitioners and other partners from the Canadian innovation industry. Tonight’s event also features the debut of Law Scout, a MaRS-based legal tech startup that connects small businesses with legal services, and a demo of Beagle, a contract analysis company currently participating in the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator program in Seattle.

“Today’s legal technology market is expanding quickly,” said Salim Teja, EVP MaRS Venture Services. “With the launch of LegalX, MaRS is creating a hub for the key players innovating the legal sector globally. This new cluster and its strategic partners will help boost entrepreneurship to drive efficiency, create new business models and improve legal services.”

LegalX works at the intersection of high-potential ventures, technology, design and the legal industry. The cluster’s ventures include enterprises pursuing innovation through new legal platforms and processes, artificial intelligence tools, transactional apps and more. Aron Solomon, Innovation Lead at MaRS, will direct the new LegalX cluster in consultation with Jason Moyse, Manager, Legal Business Solutions at Elevate Services. Both are entrepreneurs and former lawyers.

“Law Scout was created by a team of lawyers and developers working together to improve the legal experience,” said Shane Murphy, Co-Founder, Law Scout. “MaRS’ new LegalX hub complements our team by bringing the legal and technology industries together to focus on innovation.”

According to the founders of ROSS, the IBM Watson-powered legal research platform, LegalX exists at the core of innovation, creating a culture that supports big picture thinking and disruption.

“Building a strong legal tech culture is of critical importance,” said Andrew Arruda, Co-Founder, ROSS. “Through MaRS LegalX, legal tech has found its X factor.”

Applications are currently being accepted from ventures innovating the legal field through tech, design and service delivery. To apply, visit www.marsdd.com/legalX.

About MaRS Discovery District
MaRS Discovery District (@MaRSDD) in Toronto is one of the world’s largest urban innovation hubs. MaRS cultivates high-impact ventures and equips innovators to drive economic and societal prosperity. MaRS provides expert advice and market research, and makes connections to talent, customers and capital. MaRS startup ventures have created 6,500 jobs and, in the last three years alone, they have raised $1 billion in capital and generated $500 million in revenue.

About Law Scout
Law Scout (@myLawScout) is Canada’s first online platform connecting small businesses to legal services at upfront, fixed fees. Learn more at www.lawscout.ca.

About Beagle
Beagle Inc, a Kitchener Ontario based company, uses the power of artificial intelligence to automatically read a contract, highlight what you need to know and provide a feature rich real time collaborative environment. Beagle gets smarter the more you use it, providing personalized results and intelligence.

For more information, contact:
Lara Torvi
MaRS Discovery District
416.673.8100
ltorvi@marsdd.com